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Tuesday Tunes: What’s Your Inner Smile?

A sunny but breezy afternoon on the mountain seemed like the perfect time to investigate an old, forsaken orchard by the cottage. As I walked toward the grove, I noticed heirloom apple as well as pear, peach, and chestnut trees standing in a structured fashion. The weathered beauties welcomed me into a kind of garden room filled with the sounds of air moving through leaves, creaking woods, chirping crickets, and the occasional buzzing bee. Some of the trees were still flourishing with full foliage and ripening fruit; whereas, others were not. One old, gnarled peach tree stood entirely void of leaves or fruit, and sadly, not even a bird or bee alighted on its lonely branches. While tiptoeing carefully through the tall grass to ensure I didn’t step on any wildlife—particularly the cold-blooded kind, I happily discovered three or four mature high bush blueberry shrubs heavy with ripe fruit. I picked a blueberry and popped it into my mouth—sweet and tart.

After picking a few more blueberries, my eyes settled on something that made my heart smile: Random canes of black raspberries growing out of blueberry shrubs and beside apple trees–some intertwined with pink thistles. I was elated! I hadn’t seen black raspberries in over a decade on our farm. I fondly remembered sitting at Grandma Rieley’s round, kitchen table making black raspberry preserves and enjoying it, still warm, on a piece of bread. Although there weren’t many black raspberry canes, and most of them were entangled with other shrubs, flowers, and trees, I didn’t care. I felt so grateful to find them in this unexpected place.

Here’s the thing: You just never know where you may find your inner smile. 🙂

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.”

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When I first saw your raspberry photos I said to myself, “I have never seen red blackberries before!” BUT, it appears this is such a thing as black raspberries, who knew??? How fortunate for you to find those bushes, it is definitely a reason to smile! xo

Tonya, I saw in a big park, several black raspberry branches, now I know they are “canes.” They made me smile, as well as having my youngest daughter to walk with plus a mother wild turkey and 3 little gobblers. 🙂

My name is Tonya, and I grew up on a 300-acre farm in rural Virginia that has been in my family for over 100 years. After graduating from college, receiving my master’s degree in speech and language pathology, and living and working in a small city for six years, I decided to return to the place of my childhood. Here, in this rural area, on this patch of green, where for four generations my family has farmed, gardened, and lived, I, too wanted to be a part of this continuity. As a fourth generation farmgirl, I have many interests that not only include, but also go beyond the basics of farming, gardening, sheep and chicken-keeping. It is all of this and more that I plan on sharing in this blog.